3 Reasons Brooklyn Nets Fans Should Believe in Prokhorov's Title Plan

Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, thinks that his team can win a title within three years. A confident, motivated roster and an aggressive management group make this plan plausible. 

Brooklyn spent nearly $330 million on roster upgrades, but critics claim the acquisition of Joe Johnson and extension of Brook Lopez were consolation prizes after failing to snag Dwight Howard. 

Regardless of whether or not Prokhorov was able to orchestrate a deal for the NBA’s best center, the expectations for his team going forward remain the same—they must be successful.

Here are three reasons a title by 2015 is a believable objective. 

A “Yin-Yang” Approach

I was critical of Avery Johnson’s laissez-faire attitude in this article two weeks ago. What message does it send to players when the head coach is complacent?

However, the vocal Prokhorov gives balance to Johnson and his wait-and-see approach.

In an interview with FOX5 (as reported by ESPN), Prokhorov responded to a question about the Knicks by saying, “Excuse me, what is that name? Ah, oh, Knicks. Yes, I've heard about this second team in New York." 

Let’s all laugh at the funny Russian man!

It’s kind of like what you would get if Tom Coughlin and Rex Ryan got together.

Deron Williams reflects this balanced attitude, as seen in the below comments to ESPN New York:

"

For some teams it comes together, for some teams it doesn't. I don't see it being a problem that we won't come together… We're just gonna focus on becoming as good a team as we can be in the preseason and training camp and then see what happens from there. 

"

Games are not won by what coaches and/or owners say to the media, but Brooklyn does have all the signs of an organization with top-to-bottom cohesiveness. 

A Lineup with Time to Improve

The Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony combination may already be finished. But here’s the thing: They have still never had a regular preseason together.

Dropping hundreds of millions of dollars on top talent can be effective, but without ample time to learn one another’s tendencies, things can be pretty clunky. 

Brooklyn will have nine newcomers in the upcoming season. Thankfully, they are in a good position to let their progress come steadily.

ESPN’s Mike Mazzeo recently reported that Brooklyn is trying to accelerate the process even further. The team has been training at the PNY Center for the last two weeks.

The Nets’ star-driven roster can be differentiated from that of the Knicks by another reason—it works logistically. 

To summarize this article I wrote in August, the addition of Joe Johnson will help Deron Williams return to his Jazz-level productivity.

Williams shot 40.7 percent in his first full season with the Nets—nearly eight points lower than his time in Utah. Johnson will allow D-Will to avoid forcing shots by supplying complementary backcourt support.

Perhaps even more importantly, the full offseason will allow Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez to gain a better understanding of how they will work together to effectively rebound and defend the post.

One knock on Lopez, aside from health concerns, is his inability to rebound. The seven-footer averaged an abysmal 5.9 boards per game in 2010-11.

The presence of Wallace (who was big enough to play the 4 in Charlotte) and Humphries behind him will give Lopez favorable matchups and more one-on-one rebounding situations. 

Motivated Talent

On one hand, having a team composed of underachievers could foreshadow disappointment. However, consider the alternative.

Joe Johnson is a six-time all-star who has never made it past the second round. D-Will is 20-24 in postseason games. However, neither has ever played with someone as talented as the other.

Their built-up frustration from years of daunting responsibilities could be the driving force behind Brooklyn’s success.

We’ve seen signs of this already.

“When you're in losing situations,” Williams told ESPN New York, “people tend to forget about you. I think a lot of us have something to prove, and we're going to have to do that as a team, not individually.”

The time until the last part of that statement comes to fruition—“as a team”—will ultimately dictate whether the $330 million in roster upgrades is a successful investment.

Los Angeles is going to be difficult to beat in 2012, and Miami and Oklahoma City should be elite for the next half-decade, but Brooklyn is in a great position to contend with these teams by 2015.